The week between the Grand Prix de Paris and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes turns out to be the easiest stretch of Xingyun Liuge's overseas campaign so far.
By day, she mostly supervises the other girls' training and cooks for them. By night, however, she continues training in secret inside the Cycle of Despair, quietly sharpening herself while letting the outside world believe she has gone idle. Newspapers even start running stories asking whether she has grown careless or simply thinks victory is already guaranteed.
Liuge is perfectly happy to let people think that. In fact, the idea that older, more experienced runners might be shaken after losing to someone who "didn't even train properly" amuses her.
The upcoming race is the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, run over about 2400 meters at Ascot on a demanding course that combines a long curve, straight sections, a short sharp bend, and an uphill component that tests stamina. The race is considered one of the most prestigious middle-distance turf events because even though the field is usually not large, the quality is exceptionally high.
As expected, Liuge is the headline attraction.
When she casually greets the other competitors in the waiting room, however, the atmosphere turns tense. Several runners are irritated by her apparent nonchalance. To them, skipping visible preparation for such a major race feels less like confidence and more like arrogance.
One of the first to challenge her is Steel Queen, one of the runners who had helped box her in during the Epsom Derby. Steel Queen openly questions whether Liuge's attitude is wise, clearly annoyed that someone so strong would appear to take the race so lightly. She wants Liuge to lose—not because she doubts her talent, but because she thinks someone that powerful should show proper respect to the contest.
Mototo, who lost to Liuge in the Eclipse Stakes, also has thoughts, but keeps them to herself. Having already been beaten by Liuge once, she decides it is better to speak through effort and results rather than words.
Then Carina—the French runner who won the previous year's Japan Cup—steps in to smooth things over. She introduces herself politely and says she is looking forward to racing Liuge. Although her tone is calm and refined, her battle spirit is obvious. Liuge notices the sword at Carina's waist and jokingly asks whether she plans to bring that onto the track too.
For a moment, the room settles.
But the others are still dissatisfied. They feel Liuge's refusal to run trial sessions before the race is an insult. So they push forward Can't Agree, a towering British runner nearly 190 cm tall, to say what the others are thinking. She storms up to Liuge, grabs her by the collar, and accuses her of looking down on all British runners. She promises that the British girls will crush that arrogance underfoot.
Mototo, although technically complicit in the group's hostility, feels the confrontation has gone too far and starts to think the atmosphere needs calming down.
Liuge, on the other hand, takes the provocation in stride.
Her eyes flash red, and instead of backing down, she answers with a grin:
"Interesting. But don't cry after you lose."
So the chapter ends with the verbal clash fully set, framing Liuge once again as the overwhelming "final boss" figure the European runners are determined to bring down.
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